Ukrainian Chernivtsi writing as cultural phenomenon

Abstract

The article addresses the Chernivtsi polite literature as a constituent of the 'city myth'. The author proceeds from the concepts of M. Steinerei, K. Mondeil (the concept of 'region' combines not only landscape but also ethnic cultural features) and S. Yosypenko (literature started relying on the construction of the modern man, proposed by philosophy, in the 18th century - that was the time for active development of Chernivtsi). A number of most prominent creative individuals were used as a representative 'section'. The researcher highlights the following groups: Ukrainian writers (Y. Yaroshynska, Y. Fedkovych, O. Kobylianska, S. Vorobkevych, M. Ivasiuk, T. Severnyuk, V. Kolodiy); Romanian writers among which the classic M. Eminesku stands out); German-speaking writers where an Austrian cultural vector dominates though the founders of that literature were ethnic Jews (G. Drozdovski, F. Margul-Shperbera, R. Auslander and world-famous P. Tselan); literature in Yiddish (E. Steinbarg, I. Manger, Y. Burg); Russian  authors (M. Tillo and M. Goncharova). The article also shows that until the early 20th century a Chernivtsi man of letters had felt free in Jewish cultural space. And then the multicultural Chernivtsi experienced mighty 'cultural shocks' more than once - violent establishment of totalitarian regimes which destroyed freedom of speech and national roots of culture. But for all the organic affiliation to their own cultural soil, all significant writers of Chernivtsi willingly wrote in different languages, aspired to sincere dialogue with people of other nationalities and were extensively translated in other languages.